Sunday, April 27, 2008

Seems that lately we are having days and days of feeling really busy without being able to say exactly what we did. Today comes with a touch of big news though. Elijah passed his yellowband test at the Y. He really could have done it last summer but doesn't like to swim without his goggles on which I totally get bc their pool is awful but that's the rule so there you go. Neil took he and Emily swimming today though and he passed the test. Wish I'd been there but oh well. He's super proud of himself.

Now as for me I seem to have an awful case of the I wants. I think its brought on by my making the decision that I really don't need anything and should be saving money combined with the knowledge that Emily is not going to be a little baby for much longer. So my current want is a prettier ring sling to take along for our family pictures. I'm working on my dream meitai that is going to totally rock. Of course just as soon as I got the fabric the precious decided that she loves riding around in her ring sling or mama made pouch. Well that great but the sling is most comfortable to me but super ugly. I got it for Elijah and did the I'll take whatever in this size for the clearance price. Ummm its just ugly. Its this multi color Aztec like print. I want something I a khaki color linen to go with the whole look of our pictures. I don't know what I'll end up doing though bc I really don't need it but I WANT it. We'll see how this plays out. I'm also starting to feel a little self conscious about it bc on of my church friends has started commenting on how I always have a different baby carrier. She thinks they're all pretty I just feel like I have to justify having them and I don't quite know what to say. I mean I have several they weren't cheap but they could have been so much more expensive and Emily loves to be worn so she is on me so much of most days and I use them for different things. Plus they're all neat. Oh well back to searching fsot on thebabywearer.

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

So of course Elijah can be whatever he wants to be so long as he can be it while paying for his own adulthood. That said we had his end of preschool parent teacher conference this year and some things just made us smile. He still doesn't care for coloring but his teacher did agree with us that since he understands the directions and is capable of coloring just doesn't care to that it probably doesn't actually matter. We more enjoyed the fact that she showed him shapes at the beginning of the year asking him to identify each one. He could except for the oval and the diamond. The funny thing is her diamond was just a square rotated 45 degrees which he identified as a square turned on its side. Well yeah of course it is honey.

Monday, April 21, 2008

Really that's the best title I can come up with. I need to post more often so that I can be concise but who has time to do that when you've got your hands in a million different jars.

Lets start with Emily. She had her 6 month on Friday and is 15lbs 15oz and 27 inches long. She did well but held her breath till she was purple during her shots. That actually did bug me. I'm not a cry right along with the kid mom bc I think shots are important but I do hate it when they refuse to breath. She and I have also started going to an aqua moms class which she loves very much. She pretty well kicks and splashes herself into exhaustion which is good bc then she sleeps well. She still prefers to sleep in her baby wrap but is at the moment asleep in her crib. We are working on that some but not that much. I'm feeling very torn between wanting the time and feeling like she isn't even going to be little for much longer so who cares. Unfortunately on hotter days the baby wrap can get her really hot too. Oh and she's sitting pretty well though she had her first good head bonk on the kitchen floor last night right after I commented on how well she was doing she did a face plant on the floor. Boy are babies bendy.

Elijah is still well since he was the topic of the last post.

Now on to me. In short I'm fine. Still sewing like a crazy person with a good size project backlog but that'sok with me. Neil and I are pretty lenient with each other about our hobbies. I made myself a baby ball style meitai and am still trying to decide if I like it. I think I'm a padded strap girl plus the all over print is a bit much. It works well though so that is good. I bought some great fabric to try for my next one but first have a little punk baby outfit to make and the final touches on a baby present. Oh yeah and I want to make little probably Alex something. Its so much fun though and I was the cool mom who had her kids in matching clothes on Sunday which is not an easy task when they are 4 years apart and different genders.

Angela and I went to see Carry Underwood and Keith Urban for our Birthdays this weekend too which was pretty fun. Neither of them are people I was desperate to see but I like some of both of their music and it was free since we were in the sas box. I do think I'm getting older though bc after a while I got really tired of the guitar runs that Keith was doing bc the high notes just hurt my ears. We also decided that What not to Wear needs to do a concert addition soon bc there were a slew of really special outfits there.

Oh and Neil and I are trying to figure out what type of tile we want for the kitchen floor. That's right our nasty, ugly , sticky linoleum is on its way out for good. We went to a tile store on Saturday and brought a few samples home. I think we have made a decision but man was it overwhelming. I also lost my cell phone while I was there. Grumble. We got my old one reactivated though so that was good at least.

Sunday, April 13, 2008

As most of you know Elijah turned 5 on March 17th of this year just before Neil and My's 7th wedding anniversary. I'm not sure which is harder to believer that we have been married for 7 years or that we have a child who is 5 and startskindergarten in the fall. That said here are some bits about Elijah.

To start with he is in love with the wii and disturbingly good at wii boxing. He has thus far won every boxing match and at least 2 by knockout. I'm guessing it helps that he has the energy of a 5yo so he starts swinging and doesn't stop till after his victory dance. This is a bit problematic though as he gets closer and closer to the tv. We are handling this by putting one of Emily's baby quilts in front of him and telling him not to step on it. That and not letting him box unless one of us is in the room. Its funny when I think about it now but I really debated about letting him play duck hunter but didn't bat an eye when he wanted to play a game about beating the crap out of someone . After watching I may have made that decision differently but oh well that ship has sailed now.

Last night we had friends over including Angela and her daughter Beca who is almost 3. They play really well together which has prompted us to tell Angela Steve can call us about a dowry later. Though the truth is in a way we get one already since she in nice enough to let me go through Beca's old clothes and pick what I want for Emily every so often. Anyways the point of this ramble it really just to get to the kids say the darnedest things moment which occured when Beca was crying bc she wanted to stay and my darling son says "She can stay here and sleep in my bed with me." We all said um no for several reasons.

The last big bit of Elijah news is that he got his first skateboard today and after a bit of work seems to be getting it. He even fell pretty hard and got back up a few times. Big for him since he hates to fall down. I know it sounds weird but I would love it if he took to skateboarding (at the sk8 park of course) bc I think that would be so much cooler to watch then tball games. Plus that's the type of thing the people I liked in high school did. Well and sort of the type of thing I did but I sucked.

Saturday, April 12, 2008

So some of you may not know that my two current obsessions are sewing and babywearing. I discovered the idea of babywearing while pregnant with Emily when I saw a pic of a carrier called a meitai that holds the baby in the exact position the Elijah wanted to be in constantly . I started sewing a bit after Emily was born when I realized that I simply couldn't afford the style of baby girl clothes that I most love and on top of that they were not even that hard of patterns.

Babywearing thus far. Well thus far I have 5 carriers I think. A moby wrap, a woven wrap, a meitai, a sling, and Neil has an ergo so technically I have 4 two of which I don't use anyways and he has one. So really I have two a meitai and an woven wrap which isn't two bad when you think about it. The funny thing is when I first discovered the wide world of better baby carriers I couldn't understand how people ended up with such huge stashes. I've seen posts on thebabywearer where people are selling 5 or 6. Now I'm starting to get it bc the truth of the situation is that I want more more more. Fortunately I'm too cheap to totally loose my mind but I really want a babyballmeitai and a scandimeitai for now plus I'm so intrigued by trying a pod(thanks Erin). Thankfully I started sewing again so soon I will be able to combine these two as there are several great tutorials online. Unfortunately summer is coming and as much as Emily loves to sleep in her wrap I have a feeling its just going to be too hot soon. I've nearly died and she has been super sweaty both times today. Sob I hate putting her down to cry and she is completely unwilling to go down in her crib during the day any other way.

Speaking of she's up so I guess sewing will have to wait. Maybe it can be with pics.

Friday, April 11, 2008

So this post is dedicated to my dear friend/ maid of honor in my wedding Chrissie who I love even though she had the audacity to move to the West Coast. She is currently expecting her first baby and trying to figure out what she needs.

So Chrissie let me start by saying what you've heard a million times. All babies are so different that no matter what people tell you including me there are no baby products that are miraculous for all babies. That said here are my comments on some common ones and the short list of best loved.

Common onesVibrators: We had the Ocean Weaves one for Elijah. Used it some mostly so he could watch baby Einstein DVDs (yes I'm the kind of person who put her baby in front of the TV again with the mother of the year campaign) he didn't love it then we put it in the attic and it got nasty so we threw it away before we moved. Emily has the boppey 2 position one it looks comfy and was a good place to put her down when she was little. This is totally something I would borrow or get used unless someone buys it for you.

Swings: We borrowed both times. Neither baby loved them. Some do though.

Things WE have really liked

The Miracle Blanket: Not the swaddle blankets they sell everywhere. This one has littler arm shackles, a leg area, and is near impossible to get out of. Seriously we paid for 2 day shipping for this thing when she started getting out of her regular blankets and it was $40 well spent. She slept in it till she moved to her crib.http://www.miracleblanket.com/index.htm

The Amby but you know that already

I love all my baby carriers but I'll post about those separately as that is a different topic.Neil says beer and wine.

I like Northern Essence Diaper Salve.

Gosh truth be told we (Neil and I ) can't think of much me love. Really we've got so much gear but nothing that makes me think gosh I couldn't live without it except the carriers. We have a swing, a saucer (both borrowed), a jump and play, a swat gym (both kids have liked those a lot for about 2 months), a changing table and so on. Emily mostly likes to play with empty propel bottles and random plastic stuff. She's also a big fan of wadding up junk mail as was Elijah. So I guess my list isn't that helpful but I guess my advice is get some stuff that looks cool and have a go with it. Angela and I agree that our fav baby book is The Baby Owners Manuel and I really liked The Girlfriend Guide to Surviving the First Year of Motherhood. Have fun shopping. Wish I could come to your shower.

Wednesday, April 9, 2008

Actually it has been a really happy 31 for me though if you had told me this would be what I considered a good day at 17 or even 21 I would have cried. It started at about 6:30 when Emily decided it was time to wake up for good. I know poor me my baby woke me up at 6:30 but I had a headache and she usually sleeps past 8:00 so I was so not ready, but alas when a baby wants to get up there is not much you can do about it so up we got and down we came. Elijah didn't come along till almost 8 (my little teenager) then we got breakfast and ready for school. He wears a size 7 slim in pants now if you can believe it.

As we were getting out of the car his friend William pulled in up the hill bc his lil sis had to go potty so they got to walk in together and it was off to pick up a javachip light frap. I wounder how much the light really matters but Its my birthday .

I also went to powermoms. So I hurt and stink like sweat. Then Em and I walked to get E at school came back home and Elijah showed us how he no longer needs help getting candy off the fridg. How you ask. Well he mumbled something and I said OK whatever then turned around to see him standing on the counter. Like a good mom I took pictures and asked him to get me some too please. Remember that when your recommending me for mother of the year.

After our snack I managed to convince him that since its my Birthday and only since its my Birthday we could go to Lowes to get some flowers to plant. My spring fever has been pretty bad lately so that trip was inevitable. We got some pretty things though and were quite the site there at lowes pulling the wagon thing with Emily in her maitai one arm out and Elijah carrying his blue pipe. Lets just say people stayed out of our way. When we got home I put emily on my back and planted so by the time Neil got home we were all covered in dirt tired and smelly but insisting that we had had a good day. Plus he had ice scream cake with him.

As for presents. Elijah picked me a bunch of dandelions on the way home. I'd love to be one of those moms who says that was the best gift ever but I'm not. It was cute and sweet and he handed each one to me like they were gold and I put them in water when we got home but we were walking along a busy street and he scared the crap out of me every time he darted over to get one. My parents sent me 4 (OK Neil technically 6) supper special cupcakes that are hidden in the fridge so Elijah can't find them. Its not his birthday its mine. The three of them together got me the DVD of Enchanted. It is supper fun and was Emily's first movie. All in all I have all that I want and a day with my kids really is better then a day at the spa. My big gift for the whole gambit of spring holidays are real prof photos of our family.

If we're being honest I've also spent all day debating getting myself one more baby carrier for my Birthday. I'm totally lusting over the ball baby overall meitais but I don't really thing I can justify it. Not at full price at least and there are not prints I like on fsot right now. We'll have to see how strong I stay on this one.

Friday, April 4, 2008

So after spending a bit of time last night as the people on the American Eagle flight everyone hated bc their tired, overstimulated, hungry baby wouldn't stop screaming and go to sleep till half way through the flight we are home from Florida. In general it was a great tiring but relaxing trip but as always filled with quirks.

Emily + HulkHulk is my parents well technically my brother's but he lives with and is cared for by the parents huge German Shepard that drives everyone but Neil crazy. Emily has had almost no experience with dogs bc I am about as far from a dog person as you can get. I don't have other living things in my house that are not my dh or my children. However Emily seemed to think that Hulk was a giant free range plush toy and all she wanted to do was get big fist fulls of his fur. He was a bit less interested in this process but my Dad also not being an animal person loved this. Especially since Hulk decided he was not going near the little arm flapping thing.

The BeachWe went to the beach twice. On Tuesday my mom thought it would be too cold to to get in the water so we all wore regular clothes except for Elijah. It wasn't. It was absolutely beautiful. Like NC beaches in the early summer. Elijah was drenched within 20 minutes of exiting the car, Neil and I were soaked up past are knees, Grandpa had to role the waist of his shorts 4 times but still got the bottom edge wet, and even Grandma got the bottom edge wet. Emily did not get wet but she did put her feet in the ocean several times and loved watching the waves. She mostly hung out with Grandpa who in her opinion was wearing her new favorite chew toy on his head (his sun hat). Then we went to a nice seafood restaurant and learned that if you cut white fish into hunks and call them shark bites Elijah will eat so many of them that no one else gets more then one if their lucky.

Emily's BaptismThis actually came before the beach but whatever. It went well. She looked beautiful in her dress (How could she not). It was actually the 3rd dress I had purchased for this occasion. The first was during the end of summer clearance at PattyWacks a white bishop dress with pink flowers. It ended up being the Easter Dress bc I wanted a longer one. Then I got a vintage one of Ebay that was super long but not overly fancy. I tried it on her several times and tried very hard to like it but I just never could. The winner was found in the middle of the regular dressing at Pattywacks (I love that place) it came down to her toes white bishop smocked with flutter sleeves, seed pears, and ribbon at the bottom. Absolutelytdf. I know at the end of the day the dress is not that important but I love dressing her up. The service went well, the sermon was beautiful all about how love never dies, and my Dad was so wrapped up in the moment he messed up the Apostles Creed. He left "descended into hell" and something else. Emily is named after my Grandma Emily better known as his mother who was a trulycaring and wonderful person. Someone I strive to be more like on a daily basis.